Rahul Desai
It’s a drama based in a country so embattled that the only mantra left is: When in doubt, Shah Rukh Khan. The leaders have failed, the system is corrupt, and a superstar has decided to take matters into his own hands.
Khan in Jawan signifies the sort of happy-hour vigilantism that’s immensely satisfying to see. He’s a soldier and a jailer, a patriot and a saint. And he is fed up.
In other words, being fiction isn’t enough. In Jawan, the singularity of storytelling wears the plurality of life. For instance, the Robin Hood theme is timeless but also pointedly current.
Farmer suicides, fumbling ministers, a shortage of oxygen cylinders, a billionaire who funds the government. It’s no surprise that electronic voting machines (EVMs) and an impending election play a key role in the premise, too.
It gets that mass is weightless without a sense of matter. And it proves that masala film-making isn’t about giving the audience what they want; it’s about asking them what they need.